February 23rd, 2007
Build a premium Vista PC - step by step
Late last year I wrote Build your dream PC and not get ripped off and it was basically a component guide for a high to super high-end gaming PC. Some readers asked for a mainstream business, graphics design, or regular home computer. Well this article should answer that call along with the component guide and the step by step pictorial guide on how to assemble the darn thing. This is an Intel dual core PC with hardware virtualization capability and I put a lot of though in to the component selection to minimize power usage and noise while keeping the price reasonable.
Don't be put off by the $1133 price tag because that includes the price of a huge 22" widescreen LCD display and the price of Windows Vista Home Premium edition which is the version of Vista with the Aero Glass interface and Media Center functionality. If you don't need the monitor and the software it's essentially a $700 PC. Shipping was also included in that price though taxes were not but you may not have to pay it depending on the state you're ordering the parts from. Of course feel free to substitute parts if you like with any supplier you deem fit. You can save $120 if you skip Vista and migrate your existing copy of Windows XP or even go Linux, but you can check out my experiences with Vista and decide for yourself.
George Ou is Technical Director of ZDNet. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
